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“Earlier today, the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) issued a press release attributing quotes to our team showing support for the Bahrain GP. These quotes were part of a full internal and confidential working document, that was also sent on a confidential basis to all F1 team managers last week. Lotus F1 Team is one of 12 contestants of the Formula 1 World Championship and we would never try to substitute ourselves for the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which is the only party entitled to determine if a Grand Prix should go ahead or not, and we endorse the FOTA statement that was issued earlier to this effect.”

FOTA previously said that, despite attempts to suggest that the decision was up to the teams, that “teams are unable to cancel Grands Prix. We race in an international series called the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, and it is therefore for the FIA to offer the teams guidance on these issues.”

The FIA is saying nothing, which does not add to its credibility, at a time when leadership is needed.

I guess we should expect an announcement similar to last year inthat the Bahrain GP will be postponed to a date later in calendar year to see if there will be any positive changes to the social enviroment?

MrE. (pronounced – mystery) seems to be positioning himself more along the lines of Capt. Schettino of the Costa Concordia. How close to the island do you position your ship without hitting the shoals, especially when there are quite a few of the locals on the shoreline just itching to chuck spears.

How is Jean Todt going to keep his job? I mean last time we had Bernie spinning it back onto the bumbling FIA and they admitted they looked like fools – and now they’ve sat back and watched it happen again? Blame Bernie and the teams – sure, but is the FIA even paying attention? Making a ruling or decision? Max Mosley was one of my least favorite people in sport but at least he’d have had an opinion out there.

If it is called off what can we infer from that, The situation is as bad as some say or nothing at all?

Part of me hopes the race does go ahead so journalists like Joe can report honestly on what they see or don’t see (I’m not talking about the race here), obviously I don’t want harm to come to anyone but it seems a great way of getting a lot of people from outside Bahrain into Bahrain to take a look around.

Should I keep following F1? This is starting to feel like watching a South African sports team play in the apartheid era. I certainly can’t support F1 going to Bahrain so how can I justify continuing to watch F1?
Between WRC, Indycars, NZ motorsport, football and cricket I do have enough motorsport and sport in general in my life without F1.

It’s not hard to guess why Jean Todt isn’t speaking. Last year Bernie suckered Todt into taking a position on the impending Bahrain disaster, only to hang Todt out to dry. Todd paid a heavy political price while Bernie walked away relatively unscathed.

Perhaps by staying silent, Todt believes he’s given Bernie enough rope to hang himself. That would assume the press at large would actually call a lie to the preposterous BS Bernie is undoubtedly about to shovel onto their heads. A better guess would be that Todt is simply keeping his head down.

My prediction, Bernie will spout some unfathomably ridiculous rationale for the cancellation, perhaps blaming Todt and the teams. Even though Bernie’s explanation will not begin to pass the smell test, it will hardly face questioning.

In point of fact, Bernie has made a massive blunder in this matter. He has repeatedly denied the truth of the troubles in Bahrain and consistently supported a doomed event until less than a week before the the teams need arrive.

Were the tables turned, were Bernie’s foes responsible for such a mess, Bernie would use their malfeasance to make mincemeat of the bunch. Unfortunately, his foes – the teams, don’t have enough cohesion to know a gift horse when it’s hand delivered to them, tied in a bow.

So Bernie will yet again walk away with nary a tarnish or stink from a huge mess of his own making. Some will even suggest that Bernie went through all this purposefully – in order to promote the sport, they will be wrong. Bernie has done this to earn money for Bernie. Money he’ll probably still earn, even though he’s made a complete bollocks of this and tied the sport to waning despots.

It seems like the Federation is looking at Bernie’s and shudders to think of dissapointing him, while Bernie’s only concern is to convince the Bahriani promoters that he tried his best to save the event. After all, isn’t it the FIA who is responsible for whatever happens?

Credibility? I thought we’ve learned all about their credibility during last year’s Bahrain debacle.

Lotus seem to be saying that another team leaked what was supposed to be a confidential document to the organisers in Bahrain. We all know which team has closest ties with Bahrain. Doesn’t mean it was them of course, but it was someone. Any ideas Joe ?

In any case, it doesn’t bode well for a common response to the problem. You’d think that just once, the teams could stick together and put their common interest on F1 first. Woods and trees come to mind. Is it really too much to ask ?

Joe, somewhat off-topic but you did mention the Titanic and appear to enjoy matters historical so perhaps you will indulge me!

I was fortunate enough to catch a truly amazing piece of radio the other night on the BBC World Service where they recreated the Morse traffic of the night the ship sink. It was truly spine tingling and I can’t recommend it enough. Maybe fodder for the trip to China? You can find the download here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/discovery

It will be interesting to see who is left standing when the music stops. The team formerly known as Renault have, I would say, appropriately reflected the spotlight in the direction it ought to shine in, the FIA.

Where is that Mosley fellow? He had some balls an knew how to use them.

Yes, a good point. Max is very quiet. My guess is that he has said what he wants to say and does not want to get involved further. He is busy Murdoch-bashing on the quiet. I am also not sure that Bahrain was very supportive of him in his hour of need a few years back.

Dear All.
Max Murdoch bashing? I am so disappointed that he is doing that, slipping the boot into the poor martyred Rupert and his poor progeny. Now, I have one reason to like Max.
As to Max having some balls- well, yes, but let’s not forget all the Machiavellian game playing, divide and rule, etc. I am not going to let Max’s absence make my heart grow fonder for him, with the exception mentioned in para1.
Cheers
MarkR

I’ve been a closet Max fan for a very long time now. More rewarding a study than Bernie. As to why we don’t much miss him in F1, the field of study must narrow to his public commentary during the first big Concorde shuffle, to discern how much he was straining on Bernie’s leash. He was discomfited and found many ways to express that. For example demoting Bernie in the FIA boards. Less obscure, see his interviews on Bahrain, or his testimony in hearing at the Leveson Inquiry. I forget the date, which you need to find on their hearings list, but with that apology, please do not view the excerpts put up by the newspapers. Even The Guardian, obviously keen to promote their contributory instigation of this special convening, obtusely and obdurately edited the excerpts they relayed to suit their own nervous and conflicted ends. Especial case in point is how far Ian Hislop’s testimony, possibly the most engaging and goosebumps inducing simply because of his pragma, was butchered in edit by the newspapers, fearful that daring common sense might hold the day. There’s plenty of interest to be found in Max M, and a lot of it admirable, given he countervailed a very difficult political inheritance.

Mosley was quite vocal during the last Bahrain controversy, but then he hadn’t been out of the job that long. I do remember being amazed at finding myself agreeing with Max when he spoke on the BBC about the folly of continuing in Bahrain. Jean Todt seemed to be the sort who might stick up for himself but the total silence from the FIA is quite damning.

It is interesting that the UK Foreign Office has travel advice warning people against travel to over 50 countries around the world, but has no recommendations against anyone travelling to Bahrain. Given that the Foreign Office presumably has no political leanings for or against the Grand Prix, it is presumably significant that they do not consider it to be unsafe to travel to Bahrain. I have also heard no word from the UN, EU or any other serious political body suggesting the event should be cancelled.

So much has been written about Bahrain that I think the event is terminally wounded. Regardless of whether this year’s event happens, I can’t imagine why it would have its contract renewed whenever it expires (anyone know when that is?).

I am also disappointed at the inconsistencies in the arguments against the race. If it is a question of safety, why do certain media people who are not in Bahrain think they know more than the UK Foreign Office and the Bahrain government? If it is a question of not liking the government, why are there no complaints about travelling to other countries with equal – if not worse – records of abuse towards their citizens?

If you are opposed to the race on grounds of safety, then the protestors and the political opposition are the problem as they are the ones threatening to disrupt the race. If you are opposed to the race on grounds of the treatment of people protesting, then the government is the problem. Both positions are equally political, and cancelling the race is making the Grand Prix a political vehicle just as much – if not more – as continuing to hold it.

If the FIA is forced to cancel the event on grounds of safety, which is surely the only reason they would provide such a cancellation, it makes sense to leave that decision as late as possible. It is possible (however unlikely) that the government could give the protestors whatever they want and the troubles could die down immediately, which would leave Bahrain peaceful yet without a race, which would make the FIA look rather stupid.

Well you do have a large number of MP’s suggesting the event is cancelled. But you also have the business ties and geo-political positioning which means we also have MP’s making the highly unusual announcement for the other side that the race ‘must’ continue.

If you haven’t heard from the UN then you may have missed it, but the UN Special Rappoteur on Torture has been denied entry to Bahrain on four occasions and their office has issued a protest.

The UK Foreign Office follows the same rather contradictory path of any state department, it must engage on human rights and unrest but also promote global trade and the national business interest. It’s important to note that it is categorically NOT just ‘the media’ issuing reports on the Bahrain situation – it is human rights organisations who are multi-national, cross-borders organisations and THEY are saying the situation is far worse than is even being reported.

I’m always amazed when people think ‘the media’ is some bastion of freedom and liberalism. Trust me, the media, as an entity, is as schizophrenic and compromised as any government, and it has large swathes in thrall to oil money and investors. If even ‘the media’ are complaining that Bahrain is a disaster waiting to happen, it’s often a pretty good bet that the story has legs.

I believe most countries aren’t recommending against travel to bahrain, but travel advisories do note that there are security concerns and that travelers should be extremely cautious (one step away from recommending against travel).

They technically have the say in whether the GP takes place or not, but the race contract is between FOM and Bahrain, and FOM have a contract to run the commerical side of the sport. And FOM is owned by a comany that has one interest, cash.

None of the people who give the opinions that you have shown on here are totally impartial and therfore can only be seen as varying in their honesty. As you have indeed speculated on why McLaren have agreed the new Concorde Agreement.

What really needs to happen is a group of drivers (say Webber (who was vocal last year), Vettell, Alonso, Massa, Schumacher, Rosberg, Hamilton, Button and Raikonnen) say they will not be going to Bahrain to race under the current climate. Then see where it goes.

It might be a team sport, but in relaity we watch it to watch the drivers, and maybe Ferrari

What I would like to know is this: did the Lotus guys travel on their own or were they collected from the airport and whisked around in air conditionoed cars to see how ‘perfect’ everything was? It rather reminds me of all the FIFA officials flying into Russia and wondering what the press corp and fans were moaning about. They were whizzed through immigration at top speed and then taken via special traffic routes to their hotels. Everyone else had to sit for hours and then try and get into town through gridlocked traffic. Not the same situation politically but you get my drift…there is a world of difference between what we might see in the approved areas and what is actaully going on.

Where are the statesmen of the F1 world? Where are the people with the balls to stand up and say what they think, and go on record with it? Where is Hean Todt? Where are the senior drivers of conscience (Webber, Schumacher) who have the gravitas to make a stand? Where are the team owners/principals who are usually so vocal about everything (Montezemolo, Brawn)? Where are the outspoken F1 personalities of yesteryear (Mosley, Lauda, Stewart) who still carry influence and could make a difference? What are they all afraid of? Is the threat of Bernie’s disapproval really more terrifying than bombs and bullets?

There must be a lot of people like me, who have been watching F1 for many years (I am 66) and who are disappointed in the mess that the sport has become, both at the public level via the broadcasters and at the sport level via the FIA and the Teams.

We had the unsightly mess that was the BBC ditching FTA broadcasting last year, quickly followed by a pretty awful revamp of their Sports webpage, now we have Bahrain, again. Lessons were not learned, heads did not roll.

There was a time when I was interested enough to be concerned, be interested, watch the races and get enjoyment from it all. Now it has almost completely died away and Joe’s pages are all that hold my interest, and the GPplus site which I am subscribed to.

I’d love to see a coherent response to it all, but nobody ever wants to front up and make a statement, those that are in control are always ducking and diving and not facing up to problems and giving those who ultimately pay, the answers that they need and desire.

The sport has become subservient to corporate shenanigans that are totally out of place and bring shame and ridicule on those involved, but still it goes on.

I’d love to think that this will all end in a proper manner, with all issues being resolved, but I am also fearful that it won’t.

The Circus looks more like a Kindergarten lately. Maybe by accidentally torching the forest, they’ll attract a passing ship to save them?

There are several stories vital to F1, properly followed here, which I now watch like an ECG trace on a sick loved one who drifts in and out of consciousness on a good day. Rather, critical, than vital, as the stories offer no vitality:

The triangular Lotus prism absorbs light casting strange shadows.

Bahrain is longer term the decline of order in governance in F1 as much as in the country, a resonance not unheeded.

HuRT distracts us from much good in the other young teams, and must make the most casual follower wonder why such a shower can attain the ultimate series in motor racing.

Mallaya is the new Flavio, but far less fun.

This flotation is light years apart from any idea to help the teams, and you might ask why help such a shambles.

BBC: unspeakable of and untruthful towards us.

But worst of all, against this backdrop, let’s note especially the failed moral tests of two years with the Bahrain race, those who can speak positively for the sport have become more shrill and more narrowly concerned.

. .

There is clear tension in the air, even from my comfy bucket chair, and there’s obvious absence of anyone able or willing to dispel either the worries or the frissons.

Such a person is sorely needed, even without mandate, just to step in and bang heads. I can only think of Peter S having the goodness of heart and temperament. If TF could see past his young coruscating empire, he might be sensible enough to have a go, but his distractions rule him out.

It is definitley more like the Concordia. You can bet your prosterior when the ship goes down those in charge will be off in their lifeboats – meanwhile an 18000bhp string quartet plays as everyone gets wet ankles…

Would you entrust your money to this bunch of self interested, lightweights.

Ecclestone, CVC, FIA – the leadership and management effect’ is way below what would be expected of even the smallest public company, let alone the lack of accountability.

I’ve never seem such a disconnected bunch of f- – kwits in my life, or such a gutless bunch of out-of-date team managers.

If this lot were standing in a room with a ticking bomb, Ecclestone would say ‘are you sure that’s a bomb, CVC would start arranging an ipo for the explosives manufacturer and the FIA would be………….hang on where’d they go.

But I’d still ‘rail’ against the idea of me and 2 billion others handing a quid over to a small group of people just so that they could buy a bigger jet, when they haven’t earned it and don’t deserve it anyway !

If the track was privately owned and was completely independent then we would not be having these concerns. But due to the ownership of the track is causing the issue.

would it be not easier to just sell the track to a private concern. Then it can’t be looked upon as a pro royal family/government event. The only other track that springs to mind being like this is Monaco. That again it is a bit OTT when you think about it, royals handing out trophies, but it is historic and an exception to the sport.

it was not a wise idea to have a GP contract with a ruler of a country, it says only one thing and that is you agree with their ethics. Most businesses would not work with another company if they go about business in any unethical way, just for the simple fact it would reflect on them.

Maybe that says alot about the direction F1 is willing to go for money.

This looks to be simply a question of who blinks first. Bernie wants the teams to admit they won’t be turning up, so he can extract enormous penalties from them. The teams want the FIA to say the event won’t happen, so they can shrug their shoulders and say it wasn’t anything to do with them. The FIA want Bernie to cancel so they don’t upset the Bahraini’s. In the end, someone will have to blink, or F1 will (again) look like it doesn’t know which way is up.

This would be a perfect opportunity for Todt to stand up and be counted, and he should do exactly that. But where is he?

I find it ridiculous that the Bahraini government are saying everything is fine, when clearly it is not. But, that is their choice. Bernie needs to call Todt and they need to agree together that this race would be better cancelled until such a time as there are clear improvements in the situation in Bahrain, as reported by INDEPENDANT agencies. But then Bernie would lose $25m and he won’t do that, unless he is told to by his bosses. Maybe putting pressure on CVC might work?

A slightly warped part of me really wants to see F1 go to Bahrain and see some proper civil disobedience. I have the somewhat hopeful vision of a group of protesters with balls of steel breaching the fence just as the formation lap is ending and just sitting down on the track.

They can’t be tear-gassed at the circuit. They can’t be water-cannoned because you’d soak the track. They would have be dealt with by old fashioned riot police, under the full view of the world’s media.

Of course, the TV feed would instantly flick to something else to not show it, but pull it off right in front of the start and the whole paddock would have to watch.

According to Andrew Benson on the BBC here, “Bahrain has a contract to 2016 but the rules state that any race that has to be cancelled two years on the trot cannot be put back on the calendar the following year unless there is an argument for force majeure.” (emphasis mine)

Mystery (thanks Tom Kearney) is hoping that someone else blinks first so that he can hang onto the money. Sadly, his masters at CVC have no voice though it is their name that will be besmirched as someone runs across the track as the pack approaches the first corner.
Obviously Jean Todt cannot be blamed, his predecesseor sadly lacked the understanding of the financial side when he sold the rights off so cheaply and was too naive to leave sufficient controls with the FIA.

We bombard Joe with our views and leave him with the job of editing them into the blog, no, HIS blog!. May I say that my last missive was written befor seeing Neil above so not a comment on his view.
Racing wasn’t like this pre Mr E at Boreham, Goodwood, Brands and Silverstone when the world was young but then we had read of “The Right Crowd and No Crowding” from an earlier era so always had an unpleasant smell somewhere.
Next race please and next on line mag, am suffering cold turkey.

Errrmmmm, uh, Joe, speaking of Lotus, care to comment on their assertion that you are a Caterham director (“False Rumor #3”), or more generally on what seems to be their corporate level psychotic episode on Facebook.

In case you missed it, here is a link to Jalopnik.com’s coverage/commentary:

Hi Joe, About a year ago (June 9th 2011) and on the same subjet (Bahrain GP) Jean Todt wrote a letter to FOTA (namely to Martin -Whithmarsh- and Eric -Boullier-) explaining the F1 calendar is FOM’s responsability not FIA’s. Did anything changed in the meantime ?
JT wrote: “(…) Under the Concorde Agreement, the responsibility to set the calendar and submit it to the FIA for approval rests solely with the Commercial Rights Holder (art 10 and Schedule 9 of the Concorde Agreement). Consequently, it is the responsibility of the Commercial Rights Holder to perform all necessary prior due diligence to secure his calendar proposal to the World Motor Sport Council (…)”
I have the feeling the FIA might not be allowed to cancel an event in the calendar without financial consequences for them…. What do you think Joe ?
PS: the full letter to FOTA can be found on the FIA website.

The analogy that came to my mind was that of poker faced men waiting for somebody to change the game.

The F1 bosses play this game at the races all of the time. When the tyres get bad or when the rain falls, they look for somebody else to play the card. They make their choice after somebody else (usually with less to lose and more to gain) takes the gamble.

And many bosses think that they don’t stand a chance against Bernie. He has made them rich but he has also pulled the rug when they thought that they were standing on solid ground. They know that they ought to be richer but have no ability to manage BCE. He outplays them whenever they ask for a greater share of F1 television income, so they aren’t going to challenge him about the Bahrain GP.

The poker faced men hope that somebody else will come into the game to rescue them. They’d like it to be a government or the EU telling them that it is unsafe to travel to Bahrain. They’d be happy if their insurers told them that it shouldn’t happen. If Ferrari, say, declared that they could not attend, the bosses would mutter regrets about not holding the race, then sigh about their good fortune.

They will hold their hand of cards until somebody else breaks. They don’t have the confidence to play against Bernie.

A bit off topic, but still about Lotus F1. Lotus Cars claims Proton loaned Lotus F1 $30 million and put up the entire team as collateral and that if the loan is not repaid within three years Proton will own Lotus F1 nee Renault outright!

I blame Lotus for something else. Down this still dingy part of the East End, the first flash car I saw parked outside of a suspiciously dolled up back to back (not quite but those who know what a back to back means will know the scale) terrace, was a very pretty purple metallic Lotus Elise. I was really taken aback by this, so much I took my walk to the park that way to see if it turned up again. Yep, parked outside presumably the owner’s home. Up ’till then you just had the occasional shabby low rent ex chauffeur drive S class merc, such are the local business types. But no. A freaking Elise, and cared for too. No pigeon poo ever on the paint, which you’d expect down that street about overnight. Yeah, they YUPPIEfied the manor. Within a blink of an eye they yuppified the place. Pub right opposite got bought by refugees from the well past yuppified trendified and celebrified Notting Hill. That Lotus just stared at me, defiant, every day. My escape from pretentious over privileged too rich to think tosh had failed. I was being surrounded on all sides! Place has never been the same since. Was some hilarious protest graffiti down the canals. Now the once beautiful Victoria Park, simply long in need of just TLC, looks like a ready made garden on a Channel Four property show. All spic and span – they have a Pagoda! – but not a place to sit, just to shovel people through, interspersed with, at the uncomfortable spots, not secluded but right next to the diesel fumes of a main road, a very decent looking playground. Yes, attract the young mums to choke their children, cut down the mature hedges and thin the trees which give oxygen and life, ad privacy and places for kids to play hide and seek, put the little mites there by a stop sign where the busses idling will pour out soot and monoxide. Don’t worry, it only attracts the struggling white minority middle class who can afford to spend time with their little children but not much else! It is all because of that Lotus Elise. I still imagine some chinless public school version of a spiv, the owner, sizing up the general gaff and deciding how the upwardly mobile free loans inspired onslaught would transpire, and yet fail, because young families have no time to think such things through, neither the years nor cynicism to believe all may not be well, because why should it, they have their dream and are for the first time their own family . . . I rant, but with true care and a not unfriendly laugh at our stupidities, mine usually being the stupidest . . .

Last year they postponed the Bahrain GP temporarily – is there anything stopping them doing that this year and looking over the situation in the coming months? I would assume that the same result would stand: cancellation. However it buys the FIA some time.

A few weeks ago, I compared myself to Indecisive Dave from ‘The Fast Show’ for my wavering opinion on the Bahrain dilemma. Sicne then, I have read a lot more opinions and seen the videos coming out of the country and am now very firmly in the ‘Cancel the race’ camp. I think the final straw for me was the video linked in one of your articles that showed people in race-suits holding guns over some kids and saying ‘Stop racing on our blood’.

However, I have just read an article on another site that is saying, as a quote from Ecclestone, the race will only be cancelled if the local authorities cancel it.

This is preposterous! That’s just not going to happen because of their ridiculous uniF1cation plans. I think F1 is about to enter a world of hurt.

Secondly, Ecclestone has reportedly said he sees no difference between China and Bahrain and thats it’s just another race on the calendar.

For crying out loud, has he gone totally beserk? There’s only so much insanity one can handle in a single day and this following on from the public meltdown at Lotus Group is too much for me… This has made me guninely angry. I’m going to go savage a few customers to burn of my frustration.

Could Bahrain be decided in the end by nature rather than the FIA , Bahrain officials or a discredited former UK policemen. Massive sandstorms are engulfing the UAE sweeping across from Saudi. Even if they have hit Manama (yes I know it’s a bit further north) and passed on it will still be like Zandvoort in the old days when sand used to blow from the dunes onto the track. Can sand tyres be used
?
Of course the sand is an engine killer, remember the helicopters in gulf war 1 that had to have centrifugal filters fitted.